What to watch: Sex Education Series 3

by Jasmine Perkins

With the release of the third season of Netflix’s Sex Education, there has already been a wave of both negative and positive reviews. Many critics have been praising the shows’ desire to dive deeper and its progressive, empathic tone; however after enthusiastically discussing the season with my friends, I noticed they had similar complaints. The basic gist was that season 3 felt different. ‘’It just doesn’t feel the same,’’ they said and after realising I shared these opinions ,about the new episodes compared to old, I wanted to find out why we all noticed this change and what exactly had been altered. Today I’m going to explore this question and also just talk about subjectively one of Netflix’s best shows.

Sex Education is a Netflix show that began airing in January 2019. Since then, the show has become a roaring success, on and off the platform, amassing 40 million streams in just a month after its initial release. The show’s creator, Laurie Nunn, said in an interview with The Guardian that the show had come from the ‘’seed’’ idea: what would happen if we put a teenage sex therapist on to a school campus? From this one-liner Nunn became inspired and pitched her ideas to Netflix who after a few tweaks said yes. 2 seasons and 3 years later, the show has come on in leaps and bounds both in scope and budget which is evidently clear from the much improved film-making.

The first thing that caught my attention was the enhanced cinematography. The show has always looked great (with the slight chromatic aberration, snappy hallway scenes and bold colouring) yet the third installment turns these cinematic elements up to the max. Even just the first scene blew me away with the seamless transitions played over Tiffany's ‘I think we’re alone now’. This fantastic opening sequence sets the president for the entire 8 episodes and the pace doesn’t slow. Naturally, the elevated visuals change the feel of the show as the beloved characters are shot differently but I believe the more cinematic edge is truly a plus point of the season.

Another obvious cause of the divergence in vibes is the new headteacher. Hope Haddon ,portrayed by Jemima Kirke, is introduced as a replacement for the misunderstood Mr Groff. In her first appearance she is the typical ‘‘cool teacher,’’ dancing onto the stage, sitting casually and giving a motivational speech about getting ‘’Moordale back on track.’’ At this point the students are enamored by her youthful charm and promises of a better future ,however, her authority turns almost dictatorial very quickly. This dark direction comes with countless changes to the familiar way the school was run in the past two seasons and affects many character arcs. Due to this, the show is given a vastly new feel: we go from the sex-positive, free environment of the prior two seasons to a cruel, oppressive classroom regime in the third.

So despite the changes in tone and scale that may make a long-time viewer uneasy, I think the choices made have taken the show in a reasonable direction. It is unknown whether there will be a fourth season and with the seemingly definitive end I am unsure where they would take the story next. I hope if they do continue, the message of the show lingers and isn’t sacrificed for cheap laughs and recycled character development. In conclusion, season three is different but that’s not and never will be a bad thing. If it stayed exactly the same it would lose appeal and as Jean Milburn said ‘’You may never be the old you… but that’s ok.’’